


Elevator Shenanigans

by I_write_things_sometimes



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Inspired by Fanart, Just not to Steve, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Superfamily (Marvel), Superhusbands (Marvel), Team Dynamics, Team Fluff, Team as Family, Tony says 'I love you' a lot, drama ensues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 05:59:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19457827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_write_things_sometimes/pseuds/I_write_things_sometimes
Summary: There's a bit of a misunderstanding on the elevator.Tony said “I love you” to people on a daily basis. And Steve, well. Steve had noticed.Because Tony had never said it to him. Not once.





	Elevator Shenanigans

**Author's Note:**

> I’d say this falls somewhere after Civil War and Spider-man Homecoming, but in a world where we’re pretending Civil War didn’t happen and Pepper and Tony never got back together lol.
> 
> Also, this is based on lovely artwork by [@acachette](https://acachette.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. [Check it out](https://acachette.tumblr.com/post/185885289560/full-disclosure-i-saw-this-as-a-tweet-yesterday-as) (maybe after if you don't want spoilers - I'll put the link down there, too)!
> 
> Enjoy!

Tony said “I love you” to people on a daily basis. And Steve, well. Steve had noticed.

Some days, Tony would blurt out the words when Natasha handed him a cup of probably-too-hot coffee or when Bruce announced a breakthrough on a collaborative project the two were working on. Others, he’d reserve a heartfelt “love you, Pep” for when Pepper came home after a particularly rough day of SI press. Sometimes he’d say it while laughing so hard he could barely speak, other times it would be said sarcastically. Rarer still were the times he said it seriously, softly. Those were typically reserved for Pepper, Colonel Rhodes, or Peter.

It was all fairly random. Steve couldn’t identify a specific course of action that prompted it. If it wasn’t random, it was specific to each person and made sense to Tony in some way Steve couldn’t puzzle out. That, Steve supposed, was part of the problem he had with it. It was random and included everyone… with one glaring exception.

Tony had _never_ said it to him. Not once.

If it had been anyone else, it probably wouldn’t have hurt so much. Or so Steve told himself. 

But it just… didn’t make sense. 

Steve considered them friends. He couldn’t be certain, but he thought Tony did as well.

Sure, they’d had their ups and downs over the years, but they’d been Avenging together for upwards of four years now. That had been enough for a solid friendship foundation with everyone else on the team. 

He and Tony exchanged easygoing banter during missions and that carried over into the tower, too. The longer they worked together, the less frequent and less explosive their fights became.

If they weren’t answering Avengers calls, Steve checked up on Tony whenever the man spent long spells in the workshop. He even made sure not to be overbearing. He told himself Tony needed human interaction every 24 hours. It was absolutely that and totally _not_ Steve selfishly wanting to see Tony when he disappeared for days on end. At any rate, when it happened, Tony would smile and explain whatever he was working on to Steve. Usually, he’d even invite Steve to stay in the lab if he wanted, which he always did.

He thought, maybe some day, Tony would forget he was staunchly opposed to saying “I love you” to him. Probably not, but stranger things had happened.

So Steve was a little obsessed with Tony’s habit of saying “I love you” to everyone _but_ him. Just a little. He kept it to fairly reasonable levels most of the time. If he thought too hard about the root of the issue, well. That was just unnecessary, wasn't it?

It was just one of Tony’s many eccentricities that Steve seemed to find endlessly endearing and fascinating, no matter how many times he told himself it would be better for everyone if he just _stopped_ thinking about it.

And it was why Steve blamed the interaction in the elevator entirely on Tony.

Their meeting had ended — a debrief for a simple mission that had gone off without a hitch — and the Avengers went their separate ways. 

Clint and Nat left the Avengers-use only conference room and disappeared to… somewhere else in the tower. Steve didn’t actually know, but he suspected they were going down the hall to spar in the gym. Bruce took the stairs up to his room; post-mission yoga was fairly typical for him even if the Hulk wasn’t required. That left Tony with Steve, as they headed for the elevator.

Tony entered first and walked to the back of the elevator. He leaned up against the back wall with his arms behind his back and smiled at Steve.

“You heading up?” Steve asked. He figured Tony was. The penthouse and his workshop were both up, and it wasn’t likely he was leaving so soon after an emergency mission — even a short, simple one. 

“Yeah, thanks,” Tony said, seeming slightly distracted.

Steve pushed the up button on the elevator keypad which would take them to the other Avengers-only floor of the tower and turned to face the door. He was ready for a long, hot shower and at least a twenty-minute nap. It was only 10:39 a.m. but he was exhausted after the physical exertion from the mission. 

“Any time,” Steve said, a second too late probably, but Tony wouldn’t mind.

“I love you.”

Steve froze. It couldn’t be… he’d finally said it? Because Steve _operated an elevator_ for him? 

Of course it would happen now. Steve had been dreaming about this — hoping for it — pathetically, for _months_ and he’d never _once_ considered the response he’d offer up if given the chance. It had seemed too expectant, somehow. 

_Shit._ Well, really, there was only one thing he was ever going to say in response to those words, wasn’t there? 

“I love you too,” Steve said, feeling a little ridiculous even as he said it. But no one else regularly said it _back_ to Tony, and that had always bothered Steve. It’d be fairly hypocritical to restrain himself now.

Tony made a choking sound behind him, and Steve turned to find Tony… _blushing?_

“Rhodey, I’m going to have to call you back.”

_Well, fuck._

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._

Steve wanted to catapult himself out of the elevator. Or hide behind the shield. Maybe both. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d used either option as an escape route.

_Of course he wasn’t talking to you. Stupid, stupid, stupid._

“Steve?” Tony said, breaking the awkward silence that had them both bright red and shifting nervously.

“Were you seriously on the phone with Colonel Rhodes this whole time?” Steve said, finally. He’d all but resigned himself to the slow, painful death-by-embarrassment he was about to endure. No reason to let Tony of the hook for breaking team rules. “How much of the debrief did he hear?”

“Are you for real?” Tony asked, his voice sounding a little strangled to Steve’s ears. “You just… said,” he waved his hand around as if that explained what had happened. “ _That_. And you want to talk about me breaking debrief protocol?” The doors opened. Neither of them moved.

“Well it’s —”

“ _Steve?!_ ” The elevator doors slid closed again. “What…?”

“In my defense, you say it all the time.” Steve knew it wasn’t the best way to begin, but it was done now. “Not… not to _me_ , but still. And I just… reacted. I don’t know.”

“You don’t get to just ‘react’ like that!” Tony’s eyes were wide and his voice was higher pitched than Steve was used to hearing it.

“What do you mean?”

“You shouldn’t say shit like that if you don’t mean it, Rogers,” Tony said, his voice ice cold now.

“What? No! I never said I didn’t mean it.” 

The elevator started moving, and they both jumped a little. 

“So you did mean it?” 

“Well yeah,” Steve started, only to be cut off when the elevator opened again. Nat was on the other side. 

“Nope, sorry, no,” Tony said, flapping his arms at Nat. “The elevator is closed.”

“Tony!” It was a terrible idea to tell Nat what she could and couldn’t do if Tony wanted to keep his appendages.

Nat looked Tony over first and then scanned Steve.

“Declarations of love then, is it?” she asked calmly, smirking.

“Nat, please!” Tony was almost whining now.

“Fine, fine. I’ll take the stairs.”

The elevator doors slid closed again.

“Really Tony? She could have taken the elevator.”

“No,” Tony shook his head emphatically. “FRIDAY, take us up, and don’t bring it down again unless Steve or I asks.”

The elevator went up at Tony’s command, and Steve knew it would remain stationary until they said otherwise. 

“So?” Tony prompted, eyebrows raised. “You were saying?”

“I was saying _of course_ I meant it. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you don’t love me,” Tony said, definite. “You’ve never said you love me before now.”

“I thought you didn’t want me to!” Steve exclaimed, starting to get frustrated. “You say it to everyone. Everyone else. But not me. That felt like a pretty clear sign.”

“What is that supposed to mean? There’s no rule that says you can’t — ”

“Well excuse me for trying to respect what I thought you wanted.”

“Steve — ”

“It’s fine, Tony,” Steve said. He sighed deeply. “I won’t say it again, don’t worry.”

“What in the hell is happening right now?” Tony asked quietly, almost to himself. Then, louder, “I never asked you not to say it. Why would I ask you not to say it?” 

“You’re clearly uncomfortable with it, so I don’t have to say it. It’s fine.” 

“I’m not uncomfortable.”

“What do you want me to say, Tony?” Steve shoved a hand through his hair.

“I want you to explain.”

“Explain what?”

“What you mean when you say you love me.” Tony paused, took a deep breath, and continued. “Do you mean it like I mean it when I say it to everyone else? Or do you mean it the way I’d mean it if I ever said it to you, which is why I don’t?”

Steve stared at Tony for a long minute. _Oh._

“Look, I know that probably didn’t make the most sense, but I actually do need an answer — ”

“It made sense,” Steve said when he could get his mouth moving again. “I uh. I think I meant it the second way.”

“Yeah?” Tony grinned a little. He stepped a little closer to Steve. “Are you sure?”

“I could be more sure if we stopped talking in code,” Steve said, but when Tony didn’t immediately volunteer what he meant — or _would have meant_ if he’d actually said it to Steve instead of Rhodey — Steve decided enough was enough. “I mean it like… I love you, and if you want me, I’m yours.”

“As more than a friend?” 

Steve laughed outright at that. “Yes, Tony. As more than a friend.”

“Oh. Okay. Um. Me too. I mean…” Tony grimaced a little and shifted on his feet for a second before stopping. He squared his shoulders and looked at Steve. “I love you, Steve.”

Steve smiled wide. That was nice to hear and know it was meant for him and no one else.

“I love you too, Tony.”

Tony reached out and pulled Steve closer. Steve went easily and immediately complied when Tony mumbled a request, “Kiss me.”

The kiss was nice. They were both a little uncertain still, but it was definitely enough to convince Steve this was exactly right for them. 

Naturally, that was when the elevator doors opened.

Tony broke the kiss, startled. 

“Oh, hey uh, sorry Mr. Stark,” Peter said, blushing a little. His eyes darted nervously from Tony to Steve. “I just got here, so I asked FRIDAY where you were, and she said the elevator so I thought I’d catch you on your way up, but…” 

Tony laughed a little. 

“Yeah, it’s fine Pete,” Tony said, finally stepping out of the elevator with Steve right behind him. “We’d just about finished our conversation anyway. Right, Steve?”

“Right,” Steve said with a light laugh. 

“Must have been one hell of a conversation…” Peter muttered quietly, but not so quiet that Steve didn’t hear. 

Tony laughed, so he must have heard as well. 

“Yeah,” Tony glanced over at Steve and smiled softly. “It really was.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments :). I'm on tumblr as [@superhusbands-superfan](https://superhusbands-superfan.tumblr.com/) if you want to follow for more superhusbands content.
> 
> Also, please drop [@acachette](https://acachette.tumblr.com/) on tumblr a lovely note for the beautiful inspiration. And also shoutout to whoever posted it on Twitter. If you know who it was please have them reach out to me and I'll give credit!  
> [View the art here](https://acachette.tumblr.com/post/185885289560/full-disclosure-i-saw-this-as-a-tweet-yesterday-as). I deviated just a bit from the last panel, but you better believe that's what Steve was doing in his head lol.
> 
> Thanks again!


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